Sunday, November 05, 2006

Young forever.

While reading the sunday edition of El Comercio from Lima, I noticed this note : how ageing staying young, where are quoted expressions of the Dr. Jorge Hidalgo, President of the Peruvian Society of Medicine Antiaging and Longevity.." we cannot avoid the step of the years, but it is possible to age with energy, health and vitality, avoiding illnesses taken place by cellular degeneration" next, underlining the benefits of certain hormones (h) (h. of growth), linked to another measures for an appropriate handling of daily stréss, physical permanent activity, adequate nutrition to diminish the excess of free radicals, etc. To short term, we agree with this preventive proposal. To long term, we prefer the most appropriate human neotenic techniques(to remain dozens of years, in prepuberal age). By the way, to short term, the dilemma is to live live more, but with pain, inability and immobility?. In higher socio-economic strata (of developed and underdeveloped countries), the average life-span is being increased, thanks to medical and biological advances. While 50 years ago -a man of 60- was to the doors of the death, today he prepares to begin their second premiere.Shripad Tuljapurkar, population expert of the University of Stanford, said to the American Association for the Advance of the Science, that with new antiaging treatments, the age of the death will be each time, later. Lorna Layward, researcher of Investigation in Aging, said: "we want to compress the time of illness, at the end of our lives"... to live more and, to die quick."

Difficult objective, because each individual suffers its illness in a different way, as long as the state of individual health, depends on genetic, environmental factors, medical care, education, etc. Nevertheless, several populational studies describes an universal growing perception, as how staying healthy. Arlan Richardson, of Barshop Institute for the Aging and Longevity, of the U. of Texas, says: "John Glenn, was to the space at the age of 77". Respect to chronic illnesses: Ann Bowling, investigator of the University College, London, says: "the cancer or the cardiac illness won't leave us, but they plows friendly, those affected die less and many cohabit with them." Richard Suzman, researcher of the social and behavioral research programm of the National Institute for the Aging. USA, says: "the hope of life is increasing since 1980, at the cost of more life-span with more illnesses." Perception that began to change from 1990, thanks to studies of the University of Duke(observations of the health of 20 000 people, during 10 years). In which it was demonstrated that the rates of disability due to illness diminished from 25% to 21%, exhibiting :1, 2 millions of fewer disabled, due to improvements in education and medical care. A mortal clock doesn't exist; the aging is a process due to a accumulations of small flaws and intracellular waste products (for their daily work), in an organism designed to live eternally.

Among the 30-80 years, the organism loses 40% of its muscular mass. Weaker muscles condition inability to move quick or to impede a fall. Malcolm Jacksonof the University of Liverpool, is about finding drugs that impede the deterioration of muscle mass. Now-adays, the human heart muscle is beeing repaired with stem cells. It is looked for that to mature heart cell, is divided, with easiness. Equal happens to the bones. Tim Skerry, professor of orthopedic biology of the University of Sheffield, says: after the 30 years, the man lose 1% of their bony masses, every decade. -Around and during the years of the menopause - the women lose 1% of their bony mass every year (for several years), before equaling the masculine frequency. The weak bones break. For luck, available drugs that impede the bony deterioration plows already. If happen fractures for osteoporosis, the drugs impede subsequent ones. Also, drugs that stimulate the growth and bony formation already exist. Of the arthritis - result of the close contact and waste of the articulations - it is known that it involves to several genes that can be combatted with drugs. 20 years ago, 35% of people died for hip fractures; today, alone 20%. The hip substitutions plows at the moment efficient, slighter and of greater duration. The cancer is a significant causes of death in all the etareal groups , although it is increased acutely with the age. According to Cancer Research of England, more than 140,000 people above the 70 years, are diagnosed of cancer (lung, prostate, suckles, colorectal), every year, of which die 100,000, each year.

After the 40 years, the brain diminishes in volume and weighs 5% less every decade, event that doesn't affect certain people, while to other make forgetful, conditioning in some of them, the Alzheimer's disease. Carol Brayne, professor of Medicine in Public Health of the University of Cambridge, says that the perspectives to cure to short and long term, the insanity is very difficult. Finally, a great gerontological advance is the one constituted by caloric restriction, giving more useful life-span (15-30% but), broadly demonstrated in mice. Valter Longo, a biomedical gerontologist of the University of Southern California achieved that yeasts lived 6 times more longer than their normal tallies, blocking the action of 2 genes (one that governs the conversion of food in energy and another that directs the nutritious energy to the growth and the reproduction). When suppressing the 2 genes, the cells with scarce food managed them to live 6 weeks, instead of one. Arlan Richardson, has advanced that the understanding of the mechanisms of caloric restriction and other genetic ones, could be used in the following two decades to give extra health to humans. Aubrey de Grey, biomedical investigator of the University of Cambridge, says that some day, the ageing will be stopped healthy conditioning lives by hundred of years. His ideas go from using stem cells to repair damaged cells employing bacterias, with ends of cellular cleaning. Richardson, says that none of the illnesses related with the age is unavoidable and that to arrive to 100 or more years, it is maintenance question. "I agree with de Grey in that it is possible to stop the ageing in their roots, although at the moment it is necessary to ingest vegetables, not to smoke, to carry out exercises, to have preventive-healing medical care , etc ".